He Didn't Have To Be
by BrandiAlyssa
Summary: Hermione comes home from seven years spent abroad with a big little secret. Harry, being who he is, proves that he loves her just the same, even with the extra addition. HHr plus one plus two and then some equals a family.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** It seems my best ideas lately come to me at work. This idea came while listening to _He Didn't Have To Be_ by Brad Paisley. I ended it where I did because it didn't feel right to add anymore. I hope you enjoy this.

* * *

She should have expected him really. Her first visitor since she returned from the States. The little house was quiet at last when there was knocking on the door. Hermione was not surprised to see him standing there.

"Harry!" She threw her arms around him. Seven years away at Harvard Magical University in Boston had caused her to miss her best friend so much. With all the ups and downs she had she could have used him by her side. Still, he supported her through letters and floo calls; supported her on what she told him anyway. She had one big thing she had never told anyone in Britain except her parents.

"Hello, Mione." He hugged her back just as strongly.

"Come in. Sorry about the mess. Still unpacking." Her eyes quickly swept over the room, noting that anything that would give her secret away was put away.

The dark haired man grinned and shook his head. "You make a mess? Never!"

She laughed lightly. "Merlin, how I missed you. Sit, sit. I'll be right back." She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Harry to look around at what she did have unpacked. There weren't many pictures up yet, many were still packed in a box.

Harry grinned softly at one that was out. He picked it up as she was coming back. "I remember this." She set the two mugs of tea down and looked at the picture in his hand. "It was the day you went off to uni."

Harry and Hermione stood with Ron and Ginny in the magical section of London Heathrow airport. Ginny stood on Harry's right, Hermione on his left, and Ron on the other side of her. They were smiling and laughing.

"Those were the days."

Harry just smiled as he replaced the picture and joined her on the couch. "Tell me about your school." They spent the next hour catching up on each other, life, and anything else that came to mind. They fell into a companionable silence, both their mugs empty on the table.

"Harry, is something wrong?"

He has spent the last several minutes fidgeting. "I... I know it's sudden and you haven't been back long, but would you like to go to the movies with me? As a...a date?" He looked so hopeful that she hated her next words.

"I'm sorry. I can't." His face fell and he looked like he had just kicked his puppy. "I would love to, don't get me wrong, but I can't."

"Why?"

Before she could answer there was a small voice from the hall. "Mummy?" Two sets of adult eyes turned. A small boy stood in the doorway, one hand rubbing sleepy brown eyes. He had dark unruly hair that just brushed his ears.

"Come here, sweetie. There's someone I want you to meet." The child walked around the couch and held his arms up to Hermione. She pulled him into her lap and shifted him to face her best friend. "Alex, this is my friend, Harry Potter. Harry, this is Alexander Daniel Granger. My son."

Green eyes shifted quickly between the pair before settling on Alex. "Hello there. How old are you, Alex?"

He held up five little fingers before looking up to his mother. "Is he the one you told me about?"

Hermione smiled softly. "Yes, dear, he is." At Harry's raised brow, she explained. "His favorite bedtime stories are about Harry Potter, his friends, and their adventures."

Alex drifted off in his mother's arms. Hermione shifted him slightly so he was leaning more comfortably against her. "I would love to go on a date with you but I have Alex to think of."

"Where's his father?"

Sadness filled her brown eyes. "Brian was died just before Alex was born. He was an auror in Boston. There was a fight and he was killed." She sniffed. "We were going to get married after the baby was born and I finished my first round of studies. But it never happened."

"Oh Mione." He couldn't hug her with her son in her lap and so settled for taking her hand. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I was half a world away. There was nothing you could have done."

"I would have been there in a heartbeat if you needed me." He reached up and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "You mean more to me than anything in the world. I couldn't be here for you then, but I promise I'll be here for you now. Both of you." Her eyes widened. "I love children, Mione, you know that. Why would Alex be any different? Him being your child makes him that much more special."

She shrugged. "I don't know. It seems like most guys find out about him and then turn and run."

He smirked. "I'm not most guys."

"Very true."

"The offer still stands. For the movie," he said at her confused look. When she opened her mouth, he stopped her. "A date to the movies with you and Alex." Her face lit up, almost disbelieving what he said. "I won't make you choose between me and your son. I want to take you both."

Hermione shifted Alex to the couch and dove into her best friend's arms. "I love you, Mione, and I'm sure I'll love Alex too."

Tears welled in her eyes as she smiled brightly. "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything." He gently kissed her lips, watching the blush bloom on her cheeks. "Is tomorrow okay?"

"Tomorrow is perfect."

And so Harry took Hermione and little Alex to see Disney's _The Wild_. Alex talked about it for hours afterward, sharing with both adults. Hermione watched as Harry interacted with her son, feeling blessed to have such a wonderful best friend. The sparkle in those green eyes told her he really was enjoying his time with her boy. He stayed for dinner and even volunteered to put Alex to bed. It became their routine that a few times a week, Harry would come over for dinner and then help with Alex.

Hermione stood outside Alex's door one night, listening to them talk. She heard him tell Alex's favorite Harry story about the time they rescued Sirius on Buckbeak.

"Hermione, I know you're standing out there," Harry called. "Could you come in here?"

She entered, worry filling her at the slight fear in his voice. "Harry? Is everything okay?" She grew more confused with the glance he shared with Alex. "What's wrong?"

Harry smiled slightly. "Nothing. I just have a question to ask you. Come here." He took her hand and led her to sit beside him as Alex scooted back on his bed. On the child's face was a grin a mile wide and there was hope in his eyes.

"What's going on? Harry, you're scaring me."

"I love you, Hermione, more than anything. You know that. I love being with you and Alex but I want more." He took her left hand and slid from the bed to one knee. He pulled a simple gold and diamond ring from his pocket and held it out to her. "Marry me, Mione. Give me the family I've always wanted. You and me and Alex and any others that may come."

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she couldn't fight the smile that was forming. "Yes, A million times yes." She watched as he slid the ring onto her finger before she flung her arms around his neck and held him close. His arms wrapped around her and he laid a kiss in her hair.

He pulled away for a moment. "We can't forget one of the most important pieces of this family." She laughed lightly and they both turned to Alex.

Brown eyes were wide from his perch near his pillows. "Are you going to be my dad now?" he asked softly.

Harry's smile was soft. "If you want me to be."

"Yes!" The five year old launched himself at the couple. "I have the coolest dad ever!" That got laughter from both adults.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Just a little addition with Alex all grown up. Sort of like the rest of the song. It's probably not as smooth as I would like it, but it gets the point across.

* * *

Alex stood outside the nursery window, watching the nurses inside. Beside him, he felt the comforting presence of Harry, his dad. It'd been almost twenty years since the day they met, the little five-year-old child and the hero of his stories. It felt strange going from just him and his mum to having a mum and a dad, but he wouldn't trade it for the world. His attention returned to the room on the other side of the window in time to see a nurse come forward, a little bundle wrapped in pink in her arms. A baby girl. His daughter.

Mum and child were released the next morning and his parents were waiting at the house when they arrived. Hermione fussed over them both as Harry just watched, a smile on his face. The two mums were inside with the baby and Alex sat on the front porch, watching the sunset. Harry joined him at some point, but neither of them spoke. They did that often, sitting, observing, just enjoying the company of the other.

Alex thought about growing up, about his childhood with Harry. He taught him how to do numbers and how to fly. He taught him how to cook ("Girls love a guy who knows his way around the kitchen," Harry had said) and how to drive. He helped him with his studies. Gave him advice on girls and then the girl. He went ring shopping with him and then calmed him down when he was nervous as hell just before the wedding. He stood by, silently supporting him, when his wife went into labor just that week. It was then, thinking of all these things, that Alex decided something.

He didn't look over as he spoke. "Thank you."

Confusion briefly marred Harry's brow. Dark hair fell over his eyes as he looked over at his son. "What for?"

A soft smile tilted the younger man's lips. "For everything. You've been the best dad I could ask for and I don't think I've ever thanked you for that."

Laughter escaped Harry, wiping the confusion away. Alex turned, surprised. "Every time you've come to me, for comfort, for advice, for whatever it is you needed, you thanked me. Not in words necessarily, but just by coming. It told me that I meant something to you, that you trusted me. Every time you told me you loved me, I also heard 'Thank You'. You don't have to thank me, because you already have."

Brown eyes just watched in amazement. "I just want…"

"What?"

"I want to be half the dad you were because you didn't have to be. And to me, that means everything."

Harry reached up and ruffled Alex's hair like he did when he was younger. "You'll be a wonderful dad, I know it."

"And I know who to ask if I don't know what to do." Harry just smiled as their wives came out to join them. Alex took the baby, little Lily, and passed her to Harry. "I know because she has a great granddad."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** I've had quite a few reviews commenting on the lack of other children. I never said Alex didn't have siblings, I just didn't mention them. I always intended on him having other siblings. A few days ago (at work as normal by now), Emma came storming into my head, demanding to be introduced to the world. And so, here are the Potter siblings.

* * *

Alex stood on the platform with his wife, his baby daughter cradled in his arms. They and his parents were waiting for the arrival of the Hogwarts Express bearing students home for the summer holidays. Specifically they were waiting for the arrival of Emma and Remus Potter, Alex's two siblings.

Emma Rose was the older one at nearly seventeen. She had just finished her sixth year at Hogwarts. Remus James had just turned fifteen nearly a month ago, at the end of his fourth year. Alex missed both of them while they were at school and knew his parents did too. The sharp whistle of the train drew him from his thoughts and to the scarlet steam engine pulling up to the platform. It didn't take long for the students to begin unloading and it wasn't hard to spot the Potter siblings.

Emma was first, her long, curly black hair bouncing down her back. Her brown eyes swept the crowd looking for her family. They lit up when she spotted them. She paused only long enough to gather her trunk and to make sure her brother was with her before setting off determinedly towards them. Remus hurried to keep up with his sister's longer strides. He shoved dark brown hair out from in front of his green eyes as he dragged his trunk along. When they reached them, Emma dropped her trunk unceremoniously and hugged her parents briefly before standing before Alex.

"Hello brother dear," she said cheerfully as she stretched on her toes to kiss his cheek. Brown eyes peered down at the bundle in his arms.

He laughed lightly. "Hello sister dear. Remus," he called. Their brother turned from their parents to stand by him. "I want you both to meet Lily, your niece." Blue eyes flickered open and watched the newcomers. One tiny hand raised up to grasp the finger Emma was waving over her.

"Hello little one. I'm your Aunt Emma."

Remus looked at her as he might one of his potions. "She's so little."

Harry laughed this time. "Of course she is. She's only a few weeks old."

The teen shrugged and offered his finger beside Emma's. "I'm your Uncle Remus." She latched on to his finger with her other hand. "I'm going to teach you all sorts of pranks when you get older."

Alex just shook his head and smiled. Remus took after at least one of his namesakes with his love of pranks. "No pranks until she's many years older, Remus. She's too little now."

Remus rolled his eyes at his brother. "I know that. But one day…"

The older girl shook her head, curls falling over her shoulder. "She'll be smart too. And like reading."

"She'll be well loved, that's for sure," Hermione said, though she was shaking her head at her two youngest. "It's time we're getting home. I'm sure Lily will need feeding soon."

"And me!" Remus proclaimed.

The adults laughed. "Like I could ever forget that," she said.

"Could I… could I hold her later, Alex?" Emma asked quietly as she followed him to the floo point.

He smiled at his sister. "Of course. Maybe this summer, if you, Mum, and Dad are okay with it, you can watch her for a few hours so Maria and I can have some quiet at our house."

"Really?!"

"Of course." He leaned down the slight distance to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right behind you." He watched as she disappeared through the fire, a look of excitement still on her face at the prospect of babysitting her niece.

"Does she know what she's getting into?" his wife asked softly beside him.

"Probably not, but if it gives us some quiet, that's fine. Mum and Dad can help her if she needs it. And we," Alex said, giving her a brief kiss, "can maybe eventually try giving Lily a sibling."

Maria laughed. "Maybe in a year or so." She skipped ahead and through the fire after Hermione.

The only ones left were Alex and Harry. "Everything okay?" Harry asked.

A smile grew on Alex's face. "Just perfect. Everything is perfect."


End file.
